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Chacin Gets Little Help, Rockies Fall To Padres

Jhoulys Chacin pitches during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on July 9, 2013 in San Diego. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Jhoulys Chacin was on a five-game winning streak for the Colorado Rockies and seemed primed to add to the San Diego Padres’ 10-game losing streak.

Especially after he allowed just one run on five hits through the first six innings on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for Chacin, the Rockies were having even less success against Padres starter Eric Stults. The left-hander pitched a four-hitter in leading San Diego to a 2-1 win.

Stults (7-7) walked three and struck out five, including Josh Rutledge to end the game with the tying runner on first and two out.

Even so, Rockies manager Walt Weiss was pleased with Chacin’s effort.

“Early on he didn’t have his best command, but he found a way to hold them to one run and give us a chance to win the game. I thought he did his job.”

Chacin (8-4) had won his last five games.

“I didn’t feel bad,” Chacin said. “In the third inning he got a lot of base runners but I still felt comfortable.”

The only run Chacin allowed came on a triple to right-center by Alexi Amarista, who drove home Everth Cabrera from first base. The Padres loaded the bases but Chacin got Carlos Quentin and Jesus Guzman to end the threat.

“It’s been that way with him a lot this year,” Weiss said. “He gave up some soft hits again. It was good to see him minimize the damage.”

Amarista drove in the second run with a base-loaded single off of reliever Wilton Lopez in the seventh. Lopez then struck out Chase Headley and got Kyle Blanks to fly to left leaving the bases loaded.

Padres manager Bud Black had gone out to the mound in the ninth after Wilin Rosario doubled and scored on pinch hitter Nolan Arenado’s base hit.

Black was thinking about taking Stults out.

“To be honest, I went out there thinking that I might make a change. I’ve been in those shoes before and I know what goes through a pitcher’s mind. I got out there and when I hit the dirt I saw the look in his eyes that he wasn’t ready to come out. So I asked him `How do you feel?’ and he said, `I got this.’ ”

Stults stayed in the game and struck out Rutledge to end the game.

“Stults got a lot of ground ball outs,” Weiss said. “We rolled over a lot of soft stuff for him. We couldn’t get anything together offensively.”

NOTES: Padres general manager Josh Byrnes addressed the resignation of Padres President/CEO Tom Garfinkel on Tuesday, saying he was “not completely surprised” and that “nothing has changed with me or baseball operations.” … Padres INF Yonder Alonso went 0 for 3 in his rehab start at 1B Monday and played six innings, reporting to Black that his right hand was fine. He could be back for the weekend series with the Giants. . Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez was not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game. He left Sunday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with an injury to his right middle finger and is day to day. … OF Dexter Fowler, who went 0 for 3 with a walk in a rehab start Monday night at Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he played again Tuesday night, could rejoin the Rockies on Friday when they play at the Dodgers, Weiss said. Fowler has been on the disabled list since July 2 (retroactive to June 26) with a bone bruise in his right hand.